Castle's Thanksgiving
by sass41319
Summary: Beckett's homecoming one cold Thanksgiving night in the future. Some Spoilers for 6 x 10.


Summary: Beckett's homecoming one Thanksgiving night many years in the future

A/N: Ok so this is the first story I have written in 20 years so please read with judicious empathy. I did intend this to be a two parter if I can work out how to upload the second part. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of the Castle characters but I have been thoroughly seduced by them. Thanks ABC and AWM

Chapter 1

Kate slide out of the elevator before the doors were even fully open, striding down the corridor eager to reach the front door and the home that waited for her behind its doors. She rolled her tense shoulders, trying to ease the tensions of the day and allow the bottled up emotions of the day slide away. She flicked open the buttons of her caramel leather jacket, eager to shed the stresses of the day just as easily as she could shed her jacket. When she and Castle had finally sat down to discuss a family, really seriously discuss starting a family, not just agree they wanted kids but the whole _lets try, no more using protection, let's make a baby_ talk, they had also discussed how important it was to her that her children never be touched by her job. That the broken, devastating, heart shattering emotions that her job conjured within them was never to touch their children. So each day as she made that walk down the corridor to her front door she would take a second to shed those emotions, to let them slide away so that her babies would never be exposed to them. And so far it was working.

As she reached the door she dug around in her pockets for her keys, keys that she had absentmindly thrown in there as she'd dashed from the precinct eager to get home. Rummaging around in her pockets she pulled out their contents. In her hand she had the decapitated head of a lego man, half a purple crayon...correction a half EATEN crayon. Kate sighed knowing she was gonna have to find a way to get her youngest to stop chewing on inedible objects and definitely not by buying him a dogs chew toy as Castle wanted to. She almost tossed everything back in her pocket to be sorted out later but caught sight of a small scrunched up piece of paper in the pile. As she smoothed out the paper she stared at the crudely drawn picture of what appeared to be herself, if the NYPD badge was any indication, arresting a three-headed dog (likely courtesy of the Harry Potter marathon they'd had last night). Her 6 year old budding artist had scribbled a love heart and mommy at the top of the picture and a simple ABC signature on the bottom. Her face broke out in a smile as she thought of the wonderful, unique and equal parts maddening and challenging offspring (hey they were half Castle after all) that they had created. She placed a light kiss to the signature before carefully folding the note and placing it into her pocket with a quick thought that this needed to be added to Asher's memory journal. Her fingers caught the smooth polished feel of the silver "C" of her keyring. Triumphantly she withdrew the keys and slid them into the lock.

Flinging open the door with a Martha worthy flourish she stepped into the loft waiting to be assaulted by small limbs, bony elbows and sticky fingers. Instead she was greeted by silence and the distinct smell of cooking turkey. The loft was warmly lit and she could see that Castle had been busy if the culinary mess on the kitchen counter and the thanksgiving decor was any indication. The only thing lacking was the usual endless noise that was a permanent fixture in the Castle-Beckett household. Her home was never silent, maybe Castle had taken the kids out before dinner, or they were upstairs, she thought to herself.

Still musing about this rare occurrence she opened the closet door and quickly placed her gun in the specially designed gun safe and removed her jacket. Reaching up to place it on a hanger her hand froze as it dawned on her. It was NEVER this quiet and Castle wouldn't have left a turkey in the oven whilst he was out. Something was up.

Using the closet door as cover she slowly leant out and peeked around the door. Her police skills kicking in she quickly surveyed the stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms, the kitchen and the lounge room. From this position she could also see into Castle's office. Nothing looked amiss. No broken lamps, no blood trails. Just the usual clutter of their lives scattered around...a remote control tank, one roller skate (the second one nowhere to be seen), a hulla hoop, numerous Star Wars figurines and toy cars. But no Castle and no kids.

Kate silently kicked off her heels and stepped out from the closet door. Heart racing and blood pumping in her veins she stealthily moved from pillar to pillar, stopping briefly to peer up the staircase and to listen for any noises from above. When no sounds came she stepped around the table and into the kitchen. In two strides she was around the kitchen bench and ready to pounce on anyone hiding behind the counter. Empty, the kitchen was empty. There was a turkey roasting in the oven, the makings of what looked like pumpkin pie on the counter and a tray of freshly baked cookies cooling off to the side. But no Castle and no kids.

Spinning on her toes she turned to face the lounge and castle's office behind. From this view point she was now able to see the figure lying face down on the brown rug. The figure's long red head splayed out around her. A gasp escaped from Kate's lips as her brain started to process what she was witnessing. Realising she had no time to waste her long legs ate up the distance to Alexis's lifeless body, glad to see no obvious signs of blood. Crouching down next Alexis, Kate smoothed back her hair.

"Lex, Lex its Kate"

"Kate" Alexis opened her eyes to look into her stepmother's worried gaze.

"You have to go. GO NOW! Kate before they find you too." Alexis whispered.

Torn between wanting to stay with Alexis and finding the rest of her family, Kate faltered.

"Go! Kate, you have a chance to find them"

"Ok! Stay still and act dead, you'll be safer like that"

Kate jumped up and headed back to the closet to get armed. She reached in and grabbed her vest and weapon. Strapping in she couldn't help thinking of the quiet evening she had hoped to come home to tonight. Thanksgiving dinner with her husband, kids, Alexis, Martha and her dad now shattered. Kate took a steadying breath as she softly closed the closet door and moved back to Alexis's side

"It's all clear, Kate. Find them, please"

"I will" Kate whispered quietly as she steeled herself for what she would find.

Crouched low she moved around the couch, getting her first clear view of the office and the image of her mother-in-law tied up in Castle's chair, her arms and mouth taped. Concern for the older woman made her move quickly into the office without clearing it fully. A rookie mistake that surely would alert the others to her presence. As she stepped into the room her foot came down heavily on the plush Darth Vader doll on the floor. She froze as a loud breathing sound and tinny sounding "Luke I'm your father" filled the room. _Oh shit. So much for police stealth._

She heard a whispered "momma" that sounded very much like her little girl coming from the bedroom before it was abruptly reduced to a muffle as if a hand had been placed over her mouth. Her heart missed a beat as she thought of how it would feel to have those soft arms and sweet little girl scents around her as she hugged her baby again.

Knowing the element of surprise was now gone, she continued on towards her mother-in-law hoping to remove her from harms way before entering the bedroom and the showdown scene that would inevitably occur.

"God Martha, how did they get you too" Kate gently peeled back the tape on her mouth, trying not to hurt her any further.

"Katharine darling am I glad to see you" Martha exclaimed "Ouch talk about a facial peel, this better make me look younger. They were sneaky, caught me unawares whilst I was preparing myself for tonight"

"How many are in the bedroom?" Kate asked anxiously

"Four, Kate, they're all in there"

"Ok, ok I can handle four. Take the ring leader out first then the others" Kate mumbled to herself as she used the letter opener from the desk to cut Martha's hands free.

"Katharine darling, I'm fine. Go and get the children" Now her hands were free Martha was feeling much more comfortable. "get them back for me"

"Will do"

Taking a steadying breath, Kate forced her heart rate to slow down and allowed herself a second to gain control of her emotions. It was time to end this and get back to their Thanksgiving dinner. No one was going to destroy this evening for her.

Switching her weapon to fire, she quietly made her way to the bedroom door. It was slightly ajar and she was just able to make out their bed, the comforter half off the bed where she had left it in her mad dash for work this morning after Castle had distracted her and made her late. Her lips lifted in a small smile as she remembered how well he was able to distract her. She was startled out of thoughts when she saw the small figure of her 4 year old dash out from the direction of the bathroom and slide under the bed. A look of stark fear on his face. He curled up into a small ball as if trying to disappear. Kate's heart swelled at the sight, taking note of the bright orange pumpkin costume her was wearing that was going to make disappearing very difficult. Really this tradition of dressing up on Thanksgiving had started as a great way to pay Castle back but she never expected him to embrace it and want to continue, but then again it was Castle she was dealing with. Though after that first year he had flatly refused to wear the pilgrim outfit. A nervous giggle escaped her lips as she remembered the disgruntled Castle as a pilgrim.

"Momma" this time the cry was much clearer and was coming from the walk-in closet. That simple little cry was enough to pull her back to reality and she slowly pushed open the door. Her weapon raised and ready for any attack, she swept the room looking for the attackers. When she was unable to get a visual on any of the attackers she realised she was dealing with a better trained group then she'd first surmised. Stepping into the room she ignored her mothers instinct that wanted her to bend down and check on her child hiding under the bed, knowing he was safe, she sidestepped around the bed to the closet. Weapon raised and her finger on the trigger she used the tips of her toes to open up the door to the closet.

"Stop! Police!" she yelled as she made out the outline of her daughter in the arms of a man.

"You wouldn't shoot the man holding your daughter, would you?" He stated calmly.

"Momma" her daughter cried

"Let her go and no one gets hurt"

"That's what you think Detective" he sneered, assured in his victory "We have you surrounded. It's you who should put down you're weapon"

Keeping the weapon pointed at the man, she turned sideways to glance behind her.

"Oh Crap!" Kate exclaimed as she heard the shots come from behind her. As her eyes closed and everything went black she saw flashing lights and heard they're cries of glee. Drifting slowly to the floor she let the weapon slide from her fingers.

"Really Detective, that'll be a dollar for the swear jar" Castle crowed as Kate felt the weight of three little bodies as they slammed down on top of her, cries of 'momma' filling the air. Small knees and elbows found her ribs as wet kisses pressed into her cheeks and even one managed to land awkwardly on her ear.

"Momma, Momma open your eyes" 6 year old Asher whispered in her ear

"We gotted you Momma" 4 year old Bran crowed in a voice eerily similar to his father's

"Happy fanksgiving Momma" his more serious twin Noah exclaimed

With a snorting laugh, Kate opened her eyes to gaze into the brown, green and blue eyes of her offspring. Scooping them up into a big group hug she shifted to sit up with her back against the closet door. She was surrounded by the unique scents of her children intermingled with cinnamon and vanilla. They must have been baking today, hopefully something edible, shuddering as she remembered her birthday morning 'surprise'. She was definitely going to have to check with Castle before she had a bite this time. Lesson having been learnt only too well on her birthday.

As the wiggling on her lap increased and she felt one child push another off her lap, she realised maybe it was time to get up off the floor before an all out war broke out. With difficulty she tried to extradite herself but found she was pinned down by their combined weight. She glanced up at Castle, ready to tell him to help but found herself distracted. He was leaning against the wall, legs crossed, arms in his pockets, the blue of the soft cotton T-shirt making his eyes sparkle but it was the look of absolute adoration on his face that had halted her plea. With a glorious grin in return, she relaxed back against the door and continued to watch him. The Kate of 11 years ago could never have imagined having this much to celebrate on Thanksgiving, would never have imagined being the wife of her favourite author, her partner and the mother of three, _OMG three_, mischievous, imaginative and amazing children. A small knee unintentionally but well aimed hit her in the abdomen just below her vest, reminding her that she was still in the laser tag gear.

"Ok, Castle give me a hand up" she reached out a hand to him but he bypassed it grabbing their sons around the waist and quickly depositing them on the bed with a growl before coming back for their little girl. With a spin and a dip that pulled a high chortle from her, he deposited Asher beside her brothers. With one quick pull he had her back on her feet.

"So whose idea was it to teach our very impressive young children to shot at the police" she whispered in his ear. Pulling him in closer, unable to resist having him so close after the last 10 hours apart. The days he stayed home were the longest but luckily as the kids got older those days became less and less. Taking a brief second to draw in his tantalising scent she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. On a sigh she deepened it, wanting to taste more of him.

"No they were defending the Queen of Zodor from the wicked Empress Kailan" he moaned into her lips, reluctant to break the kiss "you're the one who called Stop, Police"

Kate broke the kiss to glare at her husband

"Really Castle, you're going to blame me after I had to rescue your daughter and your mother from your Zodorian hordes" stepping around him she swept her gaze over the bed. Noticing Asher pretending to puke over the side of the bed at her parents kissing. She stepped over to the bed and reached out for her first born, pushing the unruly mop of brown curls out of her daughter's hazel eyes with their familiar green tint and pulled her in close for a sloppy kiss and a tickle. She then turned to Noah, her serious one, who was giving her a look of concern as he gazed at her through his light blue eyes.

"It's all good baby," she kissed the top of his soft sandy coloured hair, so like her own father's before facing his twin. Bran was tugging at the bright orange sneaker on his right foot, having already pulled off its matching pair, exposing green socks with orange pumpkin decals. She placed a hand on his small ankle and tugged the little boy towards her. He threw his head back in a loud gasping laugh so like Castle, it always made her go mushy. Flipping his too long dark brown hair, again so like Castle's out of his blue eyes she leant in and gave him an Eskimo kiss. Rubbing nose to nose and listening to his loud chortles of laughter. Sitting down on the bed she pulled all three in for a bone jarring hug, so glad to be home.

"Ok enough, how about you guys go and rescue Grams and Lex whilst I get ready for dinner" with a gentle hand she herded the kids out the door before closing it firmly behind them.

"Now where were we" Pushing Castle firmly against the door, she wrapped her leg around his and captured his warm lips. Loving the taste of him, the feel of his firm lips on hers and the contrast of the scratchy stubble on his chin rasping against her soft skin. She felt his hitch in breath as the kiss deepened and his hands came up to trace the smooth skin of her jaw and neck, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine.

"Hmmm, I missed you today" she broke off to catch her breath.

"Me too"

"You're still coming to the Precinct tomorrow right?"

"Yes of course, wouldn't miss it" Castle murmured as he left a trail of soft kisses up her neck to her ear. Placing a final kiss behind her ear, knowing that it would make her knees shake.

"Soooo.. why the Batman and Peter Pan" She murmured

"huh"

"Noah and Asher" pulling back she gazed into his blue eyes clouded with desire.

"Noah and..."shaking his head he stepped back "oh yeah. Well I thought it would be cute for the boys to be pumpkins this year but Noah flat out refused. He said that only superheros wore costumes not pumpkins, so he chose Batman instead. And um I thought Asher could be Pocahontas but she said she wasn't "gonna wear a sissy dress" and decided that she would be Peter Pan instead"

"I had to agree before she had a complete meltdown in the middle of the costume shop. I swear when she gets an idea in her head she's like a mini Becke..."

"Owww, oww apples, apples" Grasping his abused ear, he jumped out of range.

"Really she's a mini me when she's being stubborn but when she's being charming she's yours?" Kate demanded

"Well that's not what I said" he whined, knowing that it would take some skill to dig himself out of this hole. "But you have to admit she's a force to be reckoned with when she gets that look on her face" Watching as Kate continued to glare at him.

"Yeah, that look Beckett!" he exclaimed "it's like we created our own Beckett clone, it's so awesome"

"Well if Asher's mine, then Bran is ALL yours! Right down to his permanent sugar rush issue" Reminding him of their eldest son's need for perpetual motion. She turned around to give Castle access to the velcro straps of her laser tag vest. She could have reached them herself but sometimes she liked when he took care of her.

"But Noah is your Dad reincarnated, so that's score two for Team Beckett" Castle exclaimed excitedly

"Wow Team Beckett, seriously?"

"Yeah, Seriously!"

"Really Castle, seriously?" She turned and glared at him, giving him 'that look' again. The one he had learnt to heed long before their marriage, whilst they were still 'just' partners, if they'd ever been 'just' partners.

"Awww it sounds so cool though, Team Beckett and Team Castle" he whined

She stepped in closer and leant in. "Soooo not cool kitten" she whispered before sidestepping him and heading for the bathroom. She left a trail of clothes in her wake, too tired to pick them up now.

"You coming, Castle" Maybe a little play time with Castle might be just the thing to wake her up for dinner. Confident that their zodorian hordes were now in the safe hands of their sister and grandmother for the time being.


End file.
